Sunday, March 27, 2016

The Walking Dead S6E15 East Recap/Review (Spoilers!): Tense

All episode I was waiting for the shoe to drop.

East was the setup for the big finale next week. It did its
job well by leaving some of the biggest characters of the show in very perilous
situations. At this point in the show you are either invested in the characters
or you’ve stopped watching. You want to know what happens to these people and
how they can continue to survive after the end of the world. It’s watching how
they survive, and how they interact with the world around them which keeps me
watching. I want to know if Daryl is going to be the one who meets Negan’s bat
in the finale and not Glenn. I want to know if Maggie is able to have her baby.
I want to know if Morgan can find and save Carol and bring her back, and show
her that she can live in Alexandria and not have to kill.

The show has me hooked, and this episode kept me on the edge
of my seat the entire sixty minutes waiting to see what was going to happen
next. The entire episode was tense, from the time Daryl left the compound until
he was shot and blood exploded onto the camera. The scene with Carol and the
Saviors at the car was a microcosm of the entire episode. A slow standoff until
she has to do what she doesn’t want to. She left so she wouldn’t have to kill
for Alexandria and she can’t even make it down the road before having to do it
again for the safety of the town. The fantastic thing about Carol is how she
can switch between the sweet helpless mom to the complete ruthless killer.
Carol is struggling with being able to do this now, because of how she saw the
Wolf change. She killed him and she didn’t need too. She is questioning
herself. She knew she had to kill the Saviors, but she was begging them to leave
so she wouldn’t have too. Those weren’t fake tears, those tears were for what
she was going to have to do again. For this scene to be in the first ten to
fifteen minutes of the show set the stage for the rest of the episode.

The only part of the episode which didn’t hit home for me
was the very beginning. I like the opening sequence with the song, but the
pillow talk with Michonne and Rick wasn’t needed. The audience knows events are
set in motion which will cause Alexandria to be in peril. We don’t need Rick
and Michonne talking about how they can survive anything thrown at them. We
know bad things are about to happen, there is no reason to have Rick tell us
everything is going to be okay. We know they are confident and think they can
take on The Saviors, but pride always comes before the fall. The audience, in
my opinion, didn’t need this scene and it could have been used highlighting
another member of the group, maybe Daryl before he set out to confront the
people who killed Denise. Other than showing Maggie having trouble with the
baby, which was something else I felt was just thrown in, nothing else in the
episode missed.

My favorite character of the show is Morgan, and his
interaction with Rick was, for me, the best part of the episode. I love that he
stated what he does isn’t right, but it’s what keeps him from doing the wrong.
He knows that killing is sometimes necessary, but he can’t because it isn’t
right for him, and he truly believes anyone can come back and be human again. The
Wolf’s actions proved this to him, and caused Carol to question her actions in
the world. Which is why I think Morgan feels he has to be the one to bring her
back. He knows he helped cause her distress and he wants to help. I think next
season we will see Carol take on Morgan’s ideal of everyone needs a chance. I’m
not sure if Morgan will make it out of the finale, but if he does he will start
to train Carol in Aikido.

The other party outside of the gates looks to be in a big
heap of trouble. Daryl goes off stupidly because he wants to enact revenge, and
I think it will lead to his death. I don’t think he’s dead yet, but I do think
he will be the one to get beaten with Negan’s bat. When The Savior told him he
would be alright, I do think he meant it, I just don’t think he will be okay
for long. Glenn has been a red herring all season. He should have died in the
third episode, and since they didn’t do it then I don’t think they will kill
him like they do in the comics. I don’t read the comics, but I know about
Glenn’s death. It’s that major of a death in the comics, and I think the show
wants to have the same impact for this finale. Whose death on the show would
cause the most grief and anguish for the fans? I think it is Daryl. A major
essential character or two has to die in the finale, and I think Daryl will be
the one sacrificed. My prediction after tonight would be for Morgan (maybe
Carol though) and Daryl to be the ones who will not be back for season seven.
Someone from each group who left the safety of Alexandria won’t make it back to
the walls safely.

What did you think of the penultimate episode for season
six? Did you find it as tense as I did? Did it do the job of setting up the
finale? Who won’t make it out of the
finale? Daryl or someone else? Comment and let me know.